Tag Archives: Liz Dodwell

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The Christmas Puppy

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I like these little cozy mysteries because they are light and fun with just the right amount of suspense. There are also some cute animals involved who always manage to be in the middle of a murder for better or worse. The characters, both main and peripheral, are continuing to evolve and become more and more three-dimensional as the series goes on. The killer is never completely easy to figure out which is the best part. It would be a bust if you knew within the first few pages who the killer was.

Polly once again finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation. This time things are just a little close to home however as a killer strikes during the annual Christmas Open house for Welcome Home, their shelter for homeless veterans and their pets. The murder could jeopardize everything they have worked so hard for.

Polly does not want to leave the investigation to the police, even after being told to do so in no uncertain terms. As a result, she once again places herself in danger but at least for something cares about.

Love these short and interesting stories that make me work to figure out the killer. It never seems to be the person I think it is. Recommend to everyone!

My rating: ✨✨✨

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The Christmas Kitten

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The Christmas Kitten
(Polly Parrett Pet-Sitter #2)
by Liz Dodwell

I like these stories because they are always sweet and have a nice mystery at the center. The main characters are all well defined while those introduced are still shadowy since they have no real back story. The language is always perfect and a part of the people who use it. I gave this a low star rating because it stated a side story but did not really deliver on it as I had expected. The story itself was actually kind of thin and even though who the perpetrator was came as a surprise, it was mostly because you had no major interactions with the character.

Polly arrives home to find a box on her porch when she was not expecting any deliveries. When she opens it and finds a kitten in pee soaked tissues on a freezing day. After checking with her boyfriend on whether he dropped it off she goes to the Sheriff to give him the diamond bracelet she found around the kittens neck.

Nicole Whittier, a new resident in town , has been murdered and her two step-daughters are missing from the scene. Who could have killed her and why are the girls missing, where is their father, and what does the kitten have to do with it? All really good questions, with some interesting answers.

I think even though there are some flaws with this it is still a good clean mystery story. Good for anyone who likes a mystery without a lot of blood.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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Doggone Christmas

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Doggone Christmas (Polly Parrett Pet-Sitter Cozy Murder Mysteries #1)

This was a fun read with a mystery that was good but not great since it was almost to easy to figure it out. Not that it was a problem because even with that you still needed to know the why of things. The two main characters were well fleshed out as to who they were, some of the peripheral characters were just a little less than one dimensional, the animals were however just what you expected them to be. The romance which was happening in the background was nicely done and did not move to fast or slow.

Polly Parrett runs an animal sitting service and has a mother who is handicapped and needs to sell the family home for something smaller, preferable in town. To that end they have contacted a Realtor to sell and help them buy another home, they get Tyler Breslin who owns the realty company. Things seem very simple and they are happy to find that they will not have to pay a lot of money to get their home ready for sale.

Polly finds herself attracted to Tyler but is sure he could never feel the same. He asks her out to dinner in order to go over the paperwork and while they have a pleasant time the ending is not something either could have seen coming. As they are leaving Polly hears someone threatening to shoot a dog and runs to help, what they find is a standoff between a homeless man, his dog and a cop. Bad luck for the homeless guy, Rooster, who is accused of murder and his dog, Elaine, who is set to be euthanized for being vicious. If Polly and Tyler can not prove his innocence then he could be sent away for a murder he did not commit.

This was nice and kind of sweet with the type of happy ending you expect. For those who love a cozy mystery, this is ideal.